Mike Turner warns ‘we don’t really have adequate radar system’ after incidents with flying objects
Ryan King
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House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-OH) issued a warning that the United States doesn’t have “adequate radar” amid a series of incursions in U.S. airspace in recent weeks.
“We don’t really have adequate radar system, and we certainly don’t have an integrated missile defense system. We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend,” Turner told CNN’s State of the Union. “This shows some of the problems and gaps that we have.”
FAA TEMPORARILY CLOSES MONTANA AIRSPACE AFTER ‘RADAR ANOMALY’ SPOTS AIRBORNE ‘OBJECT’
Since the suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the mainland United States for a few days until it was shot down on Feb. 4, a chorus of lawmakers has urged the Defense Department to beef up its radar systems.
There have been multiple aeronautical anomalies in the time since. On Saturday, a U.S. F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Canadian airspace. The shooting followed another unidentified cylindrical object Friday, in which pilots struggled to identify a propulsion system.
“They do appear somewhat trigger-happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over to our most sensitive sites,” Turned said.
On Saturday, the military locked down Montana airspace amid a string of military activity and potential sightings of questionable objects in the air that was later blamed on a radar anomaly.
Turner indicated that he was not briefed on some of the latest developments, which he described as “particularly annoying,” asserting “there needs to be more engagement within the administration and Congress.”
“Probably they’re a little hesitant after the Chinese balloon fiasco, where they let it go across the country to great criticism — bipartisan, bicameral criticisms from Congress,” Turned added. “I think it’s certainly a new, recent development that you have China being so aggressive in entering other country’s airspace.”
During the interview, Turner also weighed in on the classified document controversy engulfing former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
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“Members of Congress, who like me, deal with classified information — we’re all just stumped. We don’t understand how this could be happening. We don’t understand how all three could have been so lackadaisical. These are critically important documents,” Turner contended.
“There’s legislation now that they’ve been dropped in Congress that will make it even more difficult and give different penalties to be able to enforce mishandling classified documents. It’s all coming,” Turned added.